He looked me right in the eye, and I knew. I didn’t know how he was keeping it from Danielle, but I could tell. Scott was lying, probably to protect her. Does she prefer lies to the truth?
While we were talking, Danielle had placed a steaming mug in front of Scott and then began to sip her own hot chocolate. She didn’t sit, but remained quiet, leaning against the counter.
Noah finished his mug of hot chocolate and started to doze in his father’s arms. Scott looked from Noah to me. “Your turn,” he whispered.
“In a minute.” I caught Danielle’s eye and nodded at Noah. She set down her mug, walked over and leaned down. Noah’s small arms wound around her neck. After watching his family leave, Scott turned to me.
I shook my head. “I’ll share when Danielle returns. What have your nightmares been about?”
He sighed. “Sometimes people in white lab coats are hacking off my fingers and toes without anesthesia. Other times, they’re removing my internal organs in order to keep hundreds of clones alive.”
“Hundreds?” My hot chocolate was no longer keeping me warm.
He nodded. “And sometimes, there’s no one in the lab but me. I search in the adjoining rooms but can’t find who I’m looking for.”
“And that would be?”
“Noah.”
Scott and Danielle had taken the task of naming Noah to heart. He couldn’t remain Clone #24 forever. They had decided on Noah because of its meaning, peaceful and long-lived, traits they hoped for in the boy. He was the first of his kind to survive past the age of four, so there was no way to know for sure whether or not he would make it to adulthood. Would his other organs fail as his kidneys had? Thanks to Scott, his body had accepted the transplant, so there was a chance.
“I thought you said talking about them would help,” I said, referring to Scott’s nightmares, “so why have you stopped talking to Danielle?”
His eyes clouded over. “Talking about them was helping, but it was hurting Dani. She won’t admit it, but I noticed an increase in her nightmares when I began telling her about mine.”
I reached over and squeezed his hand. “You can talk to me then. Any time.”
“Alright, but you need to return the favor.”
I nodded and began to describe my most recent nightmare just as Danielle returned to the kitchen. They both listened intently as I related Lance Beckett’s most recent attack on me while I slept.
Toward the end of the telling, I’d closed my eyes. When I was done, the room was eerily silent. I opened my eyes and looked at Scott. He looked really mad, just as a brother should. I believed what he’d said after my rescue, if Keira hadn’t killed Mr. Beckett, he would have.
Danielle spoke first. “I don’t think talking about it will be enough for you, April. Have you made a decision yet?”
I hung my head, avoiding her eyes. It was the obvious next question. And she had used my real name. Danielle hardly ever did that. She knew how important it was for me to get used to my new name. After weeks of feeling trapped, I finally wept for myself. And I wept even more for the baby.
“I don’t know what to do,” I sobbed. “Every night I relive what he did to me in one way or another or what we did to him, sometimes both. I just don’t think that’s going to stop once the baby is born. Seeing him or her every day. What if it looks like him? This child deserves a clean start and lots of love, but what if I just can’t provide that?” I finally raised my eyes to meet theirs.
“You could leave the child in Mediterra when you return home,” Scott suggested. “Do you think the distance might help you move on?”
“Maybe. But I can’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“Because of what they did to me! Dr. Ross gave me the injection too. This baby will be able to heal and regenerate, just like you…just like me.”
“April.”
“Aimee,” I insisted.
He nodded as he continued, “Aimee, you don’t know that for sure.”
“Yes, I do.” I watched as realization of what I’d done spread across his face.
“You didn’t. Not to the baby!”
Okay, maybe he hadn’t understood exactly. “No,” I shook my head, “not that. But I have checked. I can regenerate the same as you, and this baby is sharing my blood right now. Chances are good that he or she is like me, aren’t they? I can’t just give the baby up for adoption to some unsuspecting couple. What will happen to their child when they realize? The tests, the studies. I can’t let that happen.”
“There is another option.”
I looked at Danielle. There it was, hanging in the air between us. My hand went to my belly. “No, I could never.”
“Not that,” Scott interrupted.
I shook my head. What were they talking about?
Scott reached for Danielle’s hand. “We’ve already discussed it. We’d be happy to welcome your baby into our strange little family.”
“Really?”
They both nodded. Tears streamed down my face, only this time they weren’t tears of fear or sadness. I reached across the table. They each took one of my hands in theirs so that we formed a circle, a circle of protection, a circle of love. It was exactly what I wanted for my baby and what I feared I couldn’t provide.
“When would you need to know?”
Danielle responded first, “Whenever. You can even wait until after the birth if you’d prefer.”
I nodded. She was absolutely right. There was no reason to rush.
About the Author
S. L. Wallace is a full time teacher in an upper elementary Montessori classroom; a full time parent of a creative, story-telling daughter; and when she’s not hanging out with friends and family, she squeezes in some time to write.
Interested in current events? Stop by and share your point of view and interesting links at CrossroadsOfHumanity.blogspot.com or visit Sarah L. Wallace on Facebook.
Table of Contents
COPYRIGHT
DEDICATION
Prologue
-Keira- Café de Rivoli
-Guy- Who is Madeline?
-Keira- Friend or Foe?
-Guy- The Lie Detect
-Scott- Introducing Elaine Ramsey
-Keira- Getting Out
-Scott- A Call from a Friend
-Keira- Double Crossed for Sure
-Keira- What Happened to Rose?
-Guy- A History
-Keira- Crossroads
-Keira- Lunch with April
-Scott- Meeting the President
-Guy- Can I Borrow the Car?
-Keira- Ramsey's Dinner Party
-Keira- Scott Was There
-Guy- Killing Is Never Good
-Keira- My Apartment!
-Guy- Bringing Her Back
-Keira- Needs
-Guy- A Decision
-Keira- On the Run
-Keira- Picking Up the Pieces
-Guy- A Meeting with Scott
-Scott- Liberty Park
-April- Ashton
-Keira- Dinner at Tony's
-Guy- The Road Less Traveled
-Keira- Who Do I Want to Be?
-April- A Dark Secret
-Ashton- The Resistance
-Keira- April, Be Careful
-Ashton- Taking Time Off
-April- Taking the Blame
-Keira- The Lake
-Guy- An Evening at the Lake
-Keira- Getting Her Out
-Guy- Onto Plan C
-April- Truths Revealed
-Keira- Who Are You?
-Scott- No Race Can Prosper
-April- Leaving Tkaron
-Scott- Parisio
-April- Welcome Home
-Scott- No More Secrets
-Keira- Keeping Busy
-Keira- A Job Gone Wrong
-Guy- Trust
-Keira- The Dry Martini
-Scott- Caught
-April- Art Fantastique
-Scott- Returning to Tkaron
-Guy- Missing
-Keira- Who to Trust?
-Guy- The Real Question
-Keira- What Ramsey Corps Did
-Guy- The Plan
-Keira- Modified
-Guy- Who Else?
-Keira- Infiltration
-Guy- Ending It
-Scott- No Other Way
-Keira- Alliance
Canvas Skies
About the Author
Price of a Bounty (Reliance on Citizens Makes Us Great!) Page 21